China's elaborate surveillance system; A Hajj application platform that frustrates Muslims
The invasion of privacy outside the west
Happy Thursday, China Watchers. For this week’s newsletter, I want to draw your attention to a New York Times year-long investigation into the elaborate surveillance system in China. By taking a look at the research on more than 100,000 government bidding documents, we get a glimpse of the country’s digital mechanism to control and manage its own people. The story answered some questions that have been perplexing many China watchers including how the cameras are being used, how much data they generate, and what type of information they capture.
In China
The first thing that stood out to me was the number of cameras the Chinese Communist Party had. According to NYT’s investigation, China is home to more than half of the world’s nearly one billion surveillance cameras. The surveillance system in Fujian, a southern province in China, stores 2.5 billion images at any given time, three times bigger than one of the largest U.S. government facial recognition databases.
The investigation also looked into how the police are placing the cameras to maximize surveillance coverage. In a bidding contract in Guangdong province, the government asked for the cameras to be installed where people “fulfill their most common needs” such as eating, shopping and entertainment.
Surveil the future: In addition to the large number of cameras that are strategically placed throughout the country, the types of information assembled and analyzed by the software are also alarming. According to the investigation, Megvii, a Chinese artificial technology company, builds “a multidimensional database that stores faces, photos, cars, cases and incident records” for the police to predict crimes before it happens. But crimes are a loose term in China that can mean anything from actual crimes such as shoplifting and robbery to political activities including peaceful protesting and filing complaints against local officials.
The sidenote: One of the surveillance companies mentioned in the investigation, Hikvision, is the same company that owns thousands of products that surveil the White House, the U.S. Capitol Building, and the Pentagon. In May, the tech giant made headlines as the Biden administration considered imposing sanctions on the company for its relation to China’s human rights violations against Muslim minorities. Hikvision would be the first Chinese tech company on the Specially Designated Nationals And Blocked Persons List if the U.S. moved forward with its plan.
NATO singled out China as a “strategic priority” for the first time.
In a statement issued during their summit in Madrid, NATO leaders stated the People’s Republic of China’s coercive policies challenges the organization’s interest.
“The deepening strategic partnership between the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation and their mutually reinforcing attempts to undercut the rules-based international order run counter to our values and interests.”
Who said what
New Zealand: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern warned of a “more assertive” China in her first NATO summit. Ardern said in a speech Wednesday that China has “become more willing to challenge international rules and norms.”
“We must stand firm on the rules-based order, call for diplomatic engagement and speak out against human rights abuses at all times when and where we see them,” said Arden.
New Zealand has changed its diplomatic tone amid the signing of a security pact between China and Solomon Islands.
The U.K.: Prior to the summit, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said what happened to Ukraine had shown the need for “extra vigilance and caution” over potential Chinese action against Taiwan. Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, urged preventive action to help Taiwan with defensive weapons. The U.K. prime minister is under pressure to boost military spending at the NATO summit by the U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.
China: Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said NATO should stop “trying to launch a new cold war”.
“It is NATO that poses systemic challenges. NATO has the blood of many innocent civilians on its hands,” said Zhao.
In the Middle East
The new Hajj application system is frustrating and potentially dangerous
It’s Hajj season – the time of the year when millions of Muslims flock to Islam’s holiest city, Mecca, to perform their religious duty. This year marks the first time that Muslims residing outside Saudi Arabia have been allowed to perform Hajj since the pandemic. The reopening comes with a new application system which is causing frustration among prospective pilgrims in western countries, while possibly putting some at risk.
Hajj is the largest annual gathering for Muslims in the world and is considered a religious obligation for every Muslim who is healthy and able to afford it. It consists of a series of religious rites completed over five days in Mecca at the beginning of the month of Dhul Hijjah.
For many Muslims, it’s considered the trip of a lifetime. For the Saudi royal family, hosting Hajj is a matter of prestige, as the custodianship of Islam's holiest sites is the most powerful source of the Kingdom’s political leverage.
What’s different this year? Saudi Arabia announced on June 6 it was changing the Hajj application process for Muslims in Europe, America, and Australia, less than a month before people start making their way to Mecca.
The new process involves registering through an online platform, called Motawif. People had one week to complete their application, including uploading documents such as photos and COVID-19 vaccine certificates. Those receiving a Hajj permit would then win their place through a random draw organized by Motawif, after which they could purchase their flights and hotel stays using the platform.
Previously, prospective pilgrims in western countries did not have to go through a Hajj lottery. They could only secure their spot through accredited travel agents who offered packages with accommodation and airline tickets. The government claimed the change was an attempt to crack down on “fake” travel agencies.
What’s the big deal? By the time the surprise announcement was made, people had already put down deposits with travel agents in their own countries to guarantee their place for Hajj.
The Saudi government advised those who made payments to "request refunds from tour operators/agents.”
The decision left people scrambling for their money and agents in an uproar over the loss of a once reliable and lucrative income stream.
Applicants reportedly faced issues at every turn in the new application process, such as payments failing, bookings being cancelled after payments had already been made, tour packages and prices being different from what was advertised and an absence of a complaint system or accountability. Those who are not tech-savvy or didn’t have anyone to help them were immediately ruled out. The rampant technical glitches disappointed many applicants and left them wondering whether the platform was tested before the launch. Some were turned away at the airport due to overbooked flights while others received emails saying their flights were rescheduled with no further details.
A dangerous privacy threat: The personal data of thousands of applicants collected through the platform could fall in the hands of anti-Islam activists in India, the Middle East Eye reports.
The investigation revealed at least one of the investors in the Dubai-based company that was exclusively contracted to operate Motawif has ties to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Prashanth Prakash — the man in question — is a policy and strategy adviser to Basavaraj Bommai, the chief minister of the BJP-run government in Karnataka and a key Modi ally. The party, especially through its “Hindu first” policy, has been complicit in allowing Islamophobia to spread throughout the country. In addition, the Karnataka government was at the centre of several anti-Muslim policies, including restrictions on the hijab and the call to prayer. Authorities in BJP-led states have bulldozed homes in Muslim-majority neighbourhoods. Hindu preachers have also openly called for the mass killing of Muslims.
Experts and Indian activists told the Middle East Eye that the move to outsource the application process could result in increased surveillance of Muslim minorities in the country if the data fell into the wrong hands. They were also flabbergasted that Saudi Arabia is furthering its economic ties with India, given that the Saudi government was among other Arab and Muslim-majority countries that condemned remarks insulting Islam made by two BJP officials in early June.